The present invention relates generally to rotor thermal sensitivity and more particularly to diagnosis and prognosis of rotor thermal sensitivity by evaluating the relationship between vibration and field current.
Generator rotor thermal sensitivity is a phenomenon that may occur on a generator rotor causing the rotor vibration to change as field current is increased. If the rotor winding is not balanced both electrically and mechanically in the radial direction, the generator rotor will be unevenly loaded which can cause the rotor to bow and cause excessive vibration. Rotor thermal sensitivity has been a persistent problem associated with generators, which limits the operation of the generator at high field currents and can lead to forced outage.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to diagnose vibrations caused by thermal sensitivity in an online manner. Instead, off-line diagnosis is typically employed and can take many hours to perform.